Eating Disorders over 6 Years: DSM-IV and DSM-V Perspectives

Diagnoses of eating disorders can shift. For example, the diagnosis for a patient initially diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (AN) may change from AN-restricting subtype to binge-purge subtype to bulimia nervosa (BN) and back, or to binge-eating disorder (BED). To examine these diagnostic shifts, investigators in Italy followed 793 outpatients with eating disorders who were assessed according to DSM-IV criteria at presentation, end of treatment, and 3 and 6 years later. All participants received cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Proposed DSM-V criteria were also applied at year 6.

Overall, recovery rates under DSM-IV were 52% for AN, 50% for BN, 59% for BED, and 77% for subclinical BED, and ranged from 56% to 64% for eating disorders not oth…